In a dramatic move of support for Pravin Gordhan, 81 CEOs pledged support for the finance minister days before he presents his mini budget and a week before he appears in court on fraud charges.

The list includes a number of names from the ICT sector, including Telkom CEO Sipho Maseko, MTN Group chairman Phuthuma Nhleko (and South Africa CEO Mteto Nyati), Blue Label Telecoms co-CEO Mark Levy, Dimension Data Middle East & Africa CEO Grant Bodley, Naspers CEO Bob van Dijk, Reunert CEO Alan Dickson and T-Systems South Africa CEO Gert Schoonbee.

“We stand as one for the rule of law and against the decision to prosecute the minister of finance on charges that are, according to the preponderance of expert legal opinion, without factual or legal foundation and not in the public interest,” the CEOs, who form part of the CEO Initiative, said in a press statement.

The initiative was formed after former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene was fired in December 2015 and has worked with labour and government to find unity with business going forward.

“We stand against the damage this has caused to our economy and to the people of South Africa, especially the poor.”

The 81 CEOs who signed the pledge were:

Altron: No name provided
Anglo American: Mark Cutifani
AngloGold Ashanti Limited: Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan
Asisa: Leon Campher
Aspasa & Sarma: Nico Pienaar
Aveng: Kobus Verster
Bain & Company: Vittorio Massone
Barclays Africa: Maria Ramos
Bid Corporation: Brian Joffe
Blue Label Telecoms: Mark Levy
Business Unity South Africa: Khanyisile Kweyama
Business Leadership South Africa: Thero Setiloane (on behalf of member companies)
Black Business Council: Mohale Ralebitso
Bowman Gilfillan: Robert Legh (chairman)
Capitec Bank: Gerrie Fourie
CEO Initiative: Jabu Mabuza (convenor)
Chamber of Mines: Roger Baxter
Credit Suisse South Africa: Rick Menell (chairman)
Dimension Data Middle East & Africa: Grant Bodley
Discovery Limited: Adrian Gore
Distell Limited: Richard Rushton
ENSafrica: Michael Katz (chairman)
Exxaro Resources Limited: Mxolisi Mgojo
FirstRand Bank: Johan Burger
Goldman Sachs: Colin Coleman
Growthpoint Properties Ltd: Norbert Sasse
Hollard Group: Nic Kohler
Imperial Holdings: Mark Lamberti
Independent: Michael Spicer
Investec Bank Limited & Investec: Stephen Koseff
JSE: Nicky Newton-King
Kagiso Tiso Holdings: Vuyisa Nkonyeni
KPMG Southern Africa: Trevor Hoole
Liberty Holdings Group: Thabo Dloti
Life Healthcare: André Meyer
Lion Pride Investment Holdings: Geoff Rothschild
Mediclinic SA: Danie Meintjes
Menston Holdings: Stanley Subramoney
MMI Holdings: Nicolaas Kruger
Mondi Group: David Hathorn
Mr Price Group: Stuart Bird
MTN South Africa: Phuthuma Nhleko (chairman) and Mteto Nyati (CEO)
Murray & Roberts Holdings Limited: Henry Laas
Nampak Ltd: André de Ruyter
Nando’s: Geoff Whyte
Naspers: Bob van Dijk
Nedbank Group: Vassi Naidoo (chairman)
Nedbank Group: Mike Brown
Netcare: Richard Friedland
Northam Platinum: Paul Dunne
Old Mutual: Bruce Hemphill: Dave Macready and Ralph Mupita
PG Group: Charles Bromley
Pick n Pay Stores: Gareth Ackerman (chairman)
Pioneer Foods Group: Phil Roux
Primedia: Roger Jardine
RCL Foods: Miles Dally
Remgro Finance Corporation: Jannie Durand
Reunert: Alan Dickson
Richards Bay Minerals: Mpho Mothoa
RMB Holdings and RMI Holdings: Herman Bosman
Rothschild: Martin Kingston
Safika Holdings: Moss Ngoasheng
Sanlam: Ian Kirk
Sappi: Steve Binnie
Sasol: Bongani Nqwababa and Stephen Cornell
SEIFSA: Kaizer Nyatsumba
Shell Downstream South Africa: Bonang Mohale
Sibanye Gold: Neal Froneman
South32 Limited: Michael Fraser
Spar: Graham O’Connor
Standard Bank Group: Ben Kruger and Sim Tshabalala
Sun International: Graeme Stephens
T-Systems South Africa: Gert Schoonbee
Telkom: Sipho Maseko
TFG: Doug Murray
The Banking Association South Africa: Cas Coovadia
Tower Property Fund Ltd: Marc Edwards
Twinsaver Group: Garth Towell
Webber Wentzel: Christo Els (senior partner)
Woolworths Group South Africa: Simon Susman
Woolworths Holdings (Australia): Ian Moir